The Burnt Offerings: Version 2
by XenotheWise135
Summary: What if the fight between Shinji and Bazz-B actually happened?


Omaeda Marechiyo was standing down a decently large group of Vandenreich's Soldat (Soldiers). Over his left shoulder were the wounded forms of his sister, Omaeda Mareyo, and his Captain, Soifon. The warriors of the Vandenreich kept their distance for the most part, but they were slowly creeping towards Marechiyo. They would strike sooner than later.

"Shit... if the Captain were awake these bastards would be dead in no time at all!" The Lieutenant complained.

Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him. "Woah~ You made it all the way here carrying your Captain and your little sister? Not bad."

Almost immediately afterwards, red balls of flame collided with the faces of all the enemies in front of Marechiyo, and subsequently exploded, killing them all. Turning around and looking up, Marechiyo saw his saviors. Hirako Shinji, Captain of the Fifth Division, and his Lieutenant, Hinamori Momo. Shinji was still sporting his injuries from his encounter with Bambietta Basterbine, but Momo looked no worse for wear. Momo's Tobiume (Flying Plum Tree) was in its Shikai (First Release), smoke coming from the tip, indicating it was responsible for the attack on the Soldat.

"Ya did good, so... I guess we'll help you out this time." Shijni said with a grin.

Momo spoke up as well. "Don't worry! We would've helped you anyways!" She yelled, contradicting her Captain.

"H-Hirako-taicho..." Marechiyo stuttered, finally speaking up.

"Momo, tend to Soifon." Shinji said as he landed near Marechiyo's position, getting a firm "Yes, sir" in response

Shinji turned his attention to the Lieutenant of the Second Division. "So... judging on where you're headed... you're thinking about helping Zaraki, eh? In THAT condition?" He mocked.

"Well, you don't look so hot either." Marechiyo countered, referring to Shinji's bandaged state.

Shinji just chuckled. "Yeah, well... Momo does good work. It's not the same as having a Fourth Division member help, but... you're missing my point." He said, beginning to look serious. "I'm not telling you to stay here because you're wounded. I'm telling you to go no matter HOW wounded you are. Can't you feel Zaraki's reiatsu (spirit energy)? The enemy thinks that if they take him down when he's wounded, that they'll gain some serious momentum in winning the war. And to be honest..."

He paused.

"They're not exactly wrong. Going by the reiatsu still active in the Seireitei, not many are fit for fighting besides Zaraki. If they kill him now, they'll definitely gain the upper hand. We MUST avoid Zaraki Kenpachi dying at all costs!"

"Oooooh!" A voice echoed over the group. "Thanks for the info!"

The group hastily turned around towards the source of the voice. High up on a building, Bazz-B was kneeling and looking down on them.

"I guess that means... we can't let you go help. You know that, right?" Bazz-B informed.

Shinji looked him in the eye and grabbed the handle of his sword. "And who are you? Here to get in our way?" He question.

Bazz-B just grinned. "Already in it, bro." The Stern Ritter held out the middle three fingers of his hand and pointed it at the group.

"Burner Finger: 3"

From Bazz-B's fingers, a huge stream of lava burst forth and engulfed the wounded Shinigami. "I wouldn't panic. Once the lava touches you, you melt almost instantly. You'll die a lot less painfully than Zaraki." He informed. Bazz-B turned to leave the scene, but was stopped by Momo's voice.

"Bakudo #37: Tsuriboshi! (Way of Binding #37: Suspending Star)"

Bazz-B turned back around and looked at the group he thought he'd killed. Instead, all of them stood on a light blue web of suspended reiatsu, connected from various corners to the buildings around it. Lava flowed freely below them, but the Shinigami themselves were unmarked.

"Kido, eh?" Bazz-B remarked, not looking all that worried about his opponents still being alive. He looked them over, and his eyes stopped on Shinji. "I know you! You're the bucktoothed bastard that bitch Bambietta one-shotted! Dude, that was classic! When I got that intel I seriously laughed. So? You're still alive, eh? You think you can beat ME?" He mocked.

Shinji completely drew his sword and looked Bazz-B in the eyes. "Not my proudest moment, I'll admit, but... I seem to be at a disadvantage here. You know my name, but I don't know yours."

Bazz-B decided to humor him. "Stern Ritter 'H' - The Heat: Bazz-B!" He announced proudly.

"Oh, that's pretty cool. I can't have you taking me so lightly, though. Collapse, Sakanade. (Counter-Stroke)" With those words, Shinji's Zanpakuto turned into a long, gold blade with holes poked throughout its length. The handle gained a large, empty circle at the bottom, which Shinji currently had his hand in, holding the Zanpakuto without even making contact with it. The blade swung in circles around his hand over and over again, not stopping even while Shinji spoke up.

"The hell is that?" Bazz-B asked, confused as to the practicality of the shape to Shinji's Shikai.

"Pretty cool lookin', ain't it? You can't have it though, I kinda' like it." Shinji paused, and started looking around the area, sniffing at the same time for some reason. "Man, do you smell that? It's really good."

"Yeah... no." Bazz-B said, not buying into Shinji's tricks. "I know how your dumb sword works, okay, and I ain't breathin' that shit it."

Shinji did a fake pout. "Well, that's no fun. It doesn't really matter though, you can't hold your breath forever." He pointed out.

"I don't have to." Bazz-B announced. "The most basic utilization of my ability is just generating pure heat. If the temperature around my body is high enough... not even the tiniest of organisms can survive in it. I seriously doubt whatever makes up that pink mist of yours can survive say... a few thousand degrees of heat?" He explained, as well as taunted.

Shinji's eyes widened at the revelation. "Meh, that ability hasn't been doing much for me lately anyways." He said sadly, almost mocking Bazz-B with how little he seemed to care about the situation.

"You're one annoying Shinigami, you know that?" The pink-haired Stern Ritter remarked. "I'm done with all this talking shit. If you won't come to me... well... I won't come to you either. Burner Finger: 1!" Bazz-B yelled before sending a thin beam of superheated flames at Shinji from his index finger.

Shinji immediately put on his Hollow mask, which looked much like a Pharaoh's. "Cero (Zero)." He remarked quietly, holding his sword horizontally. Soon after, a wide beam of red reiatsu burst forth and collided with Bazz-B's attack, swallowing it up with ease and carrying forward towards the Quincy himself.

Bazz-B's eyes widened at the sight, but he was quick to react. With a prompt use of Hirenkyaku (God Step), Bazz-B quickly rode across a wave of reishi and sped out of the way. The Cero continued it's path through many buildings. Holding his hand over his eyes to survey the damage, Bazz-B spoke up.

"Woah~ That was quite the surprise. Haven't seen a Cero in years. Pretty sneaky, Mr. Captain." He said before ducking below a swing from Shinji, who had utilized Shunpo (Flash Step) to get behind the Quincy.

With his hands still in his pockets, Bazz-B swayed in and out of Shinji's following swings. He squinted his eyes and looked closely at Shinji's arm as it swung forward. The skin on it began to peel off as it got closer to Bazz-B, and when it got farther away it regenerated almost as quickly.

"So... your Hollow powers let you get close to me even though the area around me is an absurdly high temperature. That's cool." He remarked almost lazily.

Suddenly, Shinji swung his left hand forward in a punching motion. A burst of red reiatsu flew from the fist and impacted Bazz-B right in the chest, sending him back a good distance.

_"What the fuck was that?"_ Bazz-B mused, before being forced to react at Shinji's follow up swing.

Bazz-B pulled his hands out of his pockets and actually caught Shinji's Zanpakuto with nothing but his gloved hand, Blut Vene (Blood Coat) hard at work. Shinji swung his his left fist forward again, prompting Bazz-B to block this time, hoping to catch the fist. Shinji instead stopped his fist right in front on Bazz-B's open palm, not firing a Bala (Bullet) like before.

"Bakudo #4: Hainawa! (Way of Binding #4: Crawling Rope)" Shinji's distored voice called out, sending out a gold rope of Kido (Way of the Demon) to wrap around Bazz-B's exposed arm.

Before Bazz-B could react, Shinji had pull on the rope as hard as he could and sent Bazz-B flying into a building, colliding with great force. Smoke billowed from the impact point, but the silence didn't last long. Multiple Burner Fingers emerged from the smoke at Shinji, prompting him to utilize Shunpo to dodge. Soon after, Bazz-B stopped firing and burst from the cloud of smoke on his own, sporting nothing but a few scuff marks from the collision. Rearing back his hand, Bazz-B's middle and index fingers lit on fire. Using Hirenkyaku to get above Shinji, Bazz-B swung downwards.

"Burner Finger: 2!"

A massive explosion, followed by an equally massive tower of flame, burst from the impact point of Bazz-B's attack. Laughing at the carnage, the Stern Ritter couldn't help but gape in surprise when the smoke cleared to show Shinji standing behind a yellow barrier, unharmed.

"Bakudo #81: Danku. (Way of Binding #81: Severing Void)"

Bazz-B let out a nervous chuckle. "Well then... Burner Fingers 1, 2, and 3 have all been bested, eh? I commend your use of Kido, bucktooth. But I'm far from done."

Bazz-B swiftly tugged of his glove, causing the tower of reishi associated with Vollstandig (Complete Holy Form) to appear. Shinji was on guard this time, considering what happened the last time he stood defenseless in front of one of these towers.

As the tower broke apart, Bazz-B was finally revealed. The telltale disc of Vollstandig sat above his head, but his wings were massive constructs of fire, akin to something a phoenix would have.

"Okay then, Mr. Captain. How about we try something different this time?" Bazz-B suggested before flying upwards with his wings.

Once high enough, Bazz-B stopped and extended her arm towards Shinji, all fingers but his thumb extended, coated in flame. Soon after, the flame spread around his arm and the form of a giant blade of fire appeared.

Stabbing forwards, the Quincy called out, "Burner Finger: 4!"

A spear of fire flew from Bazz-B's arm, so large it blotted out Shinji's view of the sky. It moved fast, incinerated every building it came into contact with, and was closing in on Shinji.

"How d'ya like THAT one, Shinigami? A wave of fire so hot it turns anything it touches to ash! Burn, haha!" Bazz-B cheered.

Shinji looked at the oncoming fire and sighed. He removed his Hollow mask and held up his Zanpakuto. "Bankai: Gyakuten Sakanade. (Second Release: Reverse Counter-Stroke."

Once the wall of fire collided with Shinji, Bazz-B laughed in triumph as his opponent burned to death. Or so he thought. Suddenly, the flames all burst outwards into nothing, revealing something astonishing.

Shinji stood on top of a giant sphinx, with a clock in its paws. The hands on the clock were made of Sakanade's Shikai, and spun wildly with no real purpose.

Bazz-B looked at the construct in confusion. "The hell is that? Your Bankai? I'm pretty sure I told you your little mind-warp techniques ain't gonna work on me. Why don't ya just-" The Stern Ritter was cut off as the Sphinx's mouth opened wide. Suddenly, a barrage of countless needles spewed forth, the sheer amount leaving no room for dodging.

Bazz-B grunted in frustration as a good amount hit him. They didn't pierce deep though, so Bazz-B wasn't certain what the attack was meant to do. "So... was that supposed to hurt Mr. Captain?"

Shinji looked up from his perch at Bazz-B and decided to respond. "No, not really. You see, Sakanade isn't exactly the most versatile of Zanpakuto. It either does what it does, or you don't use it at all. Despite all the stuff it does to you, it's really just reversing aspects of your sight. It's all visual. Gyakuten Sakanade, on the other hand, does a bit more. Right now, since you didn't breathe in the smoke from my Shikai, your sight is perfect. But now, you just took a hit from my Bankai. Now that Gyakuten Sakanade's poison is inside you... it's made its home in your nervous system." He explained.

Bazz-B's eyes widened at the revelation that the needles contained poison. "My... what?"

"You see, you haven't even noticed it. Why don't you try moving." Shinji taunted.

Bazz-B complied, and slightly shifted his body to the left. His eyes widened dramatically soon afterwards.

Shinji gave his usual toothy grin. "You see now? If Sakanade reverses every aspect of your sight... then Gyakuten Sakanade reverses every command sent by your brain to your body! Try to move left, and you'll move right. Try to look up, and you'll look down. It's not some sort of game you can win with your eyes closed, like my Shikai. Your body is thoroughly fucked up."

Bazz-B was currently sweating as his predicament, but managed to find a smile nonetheless. "Well then it's a good thing some of my attacks don't require extensive movements! For something as simple as this... I can make the adjustments easily." The Quincy pointed his finger at Shinji and started firing Burner Finger: 1's at him. The Captain swiftly leaped off of his perch on the Sphinx and took to the air, easily dodging the beams with Shunpo. Despite being able to use them, Bazz-B's aiming still suffered terribly under the effects of Shinji's Bankai.

Shinji appeared right in front of Bazz-B with his mask on once more, and made a quick swing with his Zanpakuto, which appeared in Shikai despite his Bankai being active. Trying to adjust to the poison's effects on his brain, Bazz-B failed to move the correct way to dodge it, taking a deep gash across the chest. Falling back on his simpler abilities, Bazz-B's wings of fire flapped furiously and sent forth numerous swathes of flame, only to see them blocked once again by Danku. Shinji dove back in and landed another cut, prompting Bazz-B to cut his losses and use Hirenkyaku to fall back.

Reappearing a distance away, Bazz-B clutched at his wounded chest, blood pouring freely. He was also sweating profusely, showing how worked over he was. "That... fucking... Shinigami. He thinks he's better than me?! NO WAY!"

Bazz-B turned to look at Shinji, who was currently closing in after him. Holding out his hand in a claw shape, all five of his fingers lit of fire. "Burner Finger: 5!" An tiny orange ball of reishi shot from the center of the claw and flew at high speeds towards Shinji, so fast he couldn't react.

Almost feet before colliding with Shinji's body, a fireball from Tobiume hit the side of Bazz-B's projectile, sending it flying in another direction. As the small orb faded out of view in the distance, it suddenly met with a random building. A blinding flash of light emerged and showed nothing but a massive crater where the ball had landed. The buildings around it had clean burns in them to, as if the orb had expanded into something of a miniature sun and vaporized everything in a spherical area.

Bazz-B turned to Momo and cursed her arrival. "I forgot the bitch... dammit!" Suddenly, he was hit almost as hard as he'd ever been in the back by the ball and chain of Marechiyo's Shikai, sending him flying into a building.

A gigantic tower of flame destroyed the building Bazz-B was sent into. "Dammit... DAMMIT! You think you Shinigami are better than me? Do you?!" He screamed maniacally. He stood up and showed the full extent of his injuries, with blood pouring from his open wounds, as well as the new gash on the back of his head. Shortly after, a tiny blade pierced his back, removed itself, and pierced again. Turning around slowly, Bazz-B saw the heavily wounded form of Soifon, being supported by Momo.

"Nigeki Kessatsu. (Death in Two Steps)"

Slowly, Bazz-B's body began to disintegrate on a cellular level. "You gotta be fuckin'-"

And then he was gone.


End file.
